Duplicity
"Duplicity" is the eighth episode of the first season of Smallville and the 8th produced episode of the series. After one of Clark's friends discover the spaceship in the cornfield, Clark goes against his parents' wishes and reveals his secret, but is shocked when the reaction he gets makes him question his friend's loyalty. Meanwhile, frustration with his father causes Lex to lose his temper and attack a parking attendant's car with a golf club, landing him in an anger management class where he meets an interesting new woman. Synopsis Dr. Steven Hamilton arrives at the Luthor Mansion, twitching uncontrollably. He complains about the problems he is having doing his research. Seeming even more unstable, Dr. Hamilton leaves and causes a traffic accident in which a van goes off the road and overturns into a cornfield. Pete Ross comes upon the scene just as Dr. Hamilton speeds away. Pete runs into the field to check on the other driver and finds him staring at a spaceship. Clark is shooting hoops when Pete pulls up and asks Clark to borrow his father's pickup to get the spaceship. Clark wants to bring it back to his house, but reluctantly agrees to store it in Pete's tool shed because he can't come up with a reasonable excuse. Pete wants to call Chloe so she can write an article and make them famous, but Clark convinces Pete to keep quiet until they investigate further. Lex is exiting the Talon to find that he is getting a parking ticket. He argues with the meter maid to no avail, and suddenly and impulsively removes a golf club from his backseat and proceeds to bash the shocked meter maid's car with it. At the Talon, Aunt Nell is smooching with her new boyfriend, Dean, an insurance adjuster she met after the tornado. When Chloe Sullivan walks in, she has to make up a lie that she and Lana were together last night. In reality, Lana spent the night at the Talon because she didn't want to be around Nell and Dean. Chloe assures Lana that she can come over any time she likes. Jonathan suggests to Clark that they try to steal his ship back, but Clark tries to convince them that he should just tell Pete the truth. advises that the burden of his secret might be something Pete is not ready to bear. Lex arrives at his anger management class and sees a familiar face, Dr. Bryce. He asks her out, but she turns him down, cryptically saying, "You don't remember me?" Later, he finds her at the hospital, and he does remember- they had an encounter years ago in a Metropolis ER. She accepts his date. Dr. Hamilton hears about a man who claims to have seen a spaceship in a cornfield, Ray Wallace, the same man he ran off the road. Hamilton knows the ship is no longer in the cornfield and demands answers from Ray. Ray tells him that Pete Ross pulled him out but when he recognizes Dr. Hamilton, he kills Ray with a lethal dose of morphine. Clark and Jonathan arrive at Pete's tool shed but the ship is gone. Pete sees them drive away. The next morning, Pete accuses Clark of stealing and lying about it. Clark tries to make excuses but Pete is unconvinced and drives off. Clark hesitates a moment and then makes a decision. Pete glances at Clark through the rearview mirror and suddenly Clark is right in front of him, stopping the car with his bare hands. After Clark has told Pete his secret, Pete is hurt that Clark did not trust him and storms away. In his barn, Dr. Hamilton is frantically trying to open the spaceship when he discovers a space which reminds him of a piece he found during the excavation of Miller's Field. He goes to the mansion to retrieve the disc from Lex, but Lex no longer has it. On his way out, Hamilton runs into Lionel in the corridor and persuades him consider funding his research. Guiding Lionel's hand around the ship, Dr. Hamilton tells him about the missing piece. Lionel promises that when Hamilton finds it, he might get his funding. Clark tries to talk to Pete, but he is still angry. Chloe wants to interview Pete for his heroic actions at the accident site. She asks if Pete can corroborate Ray's claim of a spaceship. Pete does so sarcastically, and Chloe takes it as a joke. That afternoon, Clark finds Lex at the farm. Lex wants to be out of the house and away from his father; he also mentions the "paperweight" missing from his desk, to which Clark feigns ignorance. In the evening, Clark finds Lana in his loft, spying on Aunt Nell and Dean. Clark tries to tell Lana about Pete, but he can't go into details, and Lana becomes annoyed, especially after she tells Clark about breaking up with Whitney. Clark encourages her to tell Nell how she feels about Dean. Lana takes Clark's advice and makes a date with Nell to discuss her feelings for Dean. Nell seems sympathetic, but then she tells Lana that she has accepted Dean's proposal. Pete finds Hamilton searching his tool shed. When threatened, Pete accidentally blurts out something about the ship's owner. Newly determined, Hamilton kidnaps Pete and hauls him back to his barn. The Kents discuss ways to retrieve the spaceship and Clark admits that he and Pete aren't speaking. Jonathan and Martha are shocked when Clark says he told Pete his secret. Jonathan says Clark has worsened the situation when Martha gets a call from Mrs. Ross; Pete has gone missing. Pete is bound, trying to backpedal and say he just made up what he said about the ship's owner, but Hamilton doesn't believe him. He believes he is dying from prolonged exposure to the meteor rocks, but he is determined to establish himself as a credible scientist before he dies. Lex walks in while his father is listening to Dr. Hamilton's research notes on the meteors, using a device that reads typewritten pages. Lex reveals that he spoke to Lionel's doctor, who in fact advised Lionel not to skip any more therapy sessions. Lex asks if this is the reason behind his new fascination with aliens. Lionel tells Lex to go see what Hamilton has. Chloe provides Clark with the link between Hamilton, the accident and Pete, so Clark rushes off to investigate Hamilton. Hamilton is about to inject Pete with a green liquid, telling him that it will cause the same tremors that he has. Pete bravely refuses to say anything. Clark bursts through the door just as he's lowering the needle. Using his heat vision, Clark destroys the needle then throws Hamilton across the room. He tries to free Pete, but the meteor rocks all around the barn overcome him. Hamilton overhears a Clark tell Pete he's allergic to the meteor rocks and grabs a beaker of the liquid. He screams for Clark to tell him how to open the ship and threatens to pour the contents of the beaker on him, when Pete hits him over the head. As he falls, he knocks some of the meteor liquid onto himself and begins to have a violent seizure. At Clark's request, Pete tries to help him, but he dies. After returning the ship to the Kents' storm cellar, Pete says he now understands why Clark hid the truth for so long. Clark explains to Pete that he couldn't have just let Hamilton die to protect his secret any more than he could have let Pete. Lex and Lionel arrive at the barn; the spaceship is gone, so Lionel says he plans to stay in Smallville a while longer and investigate and Lex appears ready to help. Clark and Pete play a game of super-powered basketball, and Clark proves that white aliens can jump. Memorable Quotes :"We'll have a chance for some father-son bonding. You've always told me I've been lax in that requirement, Lex." :"Are you sure you wouldn't be more comfortable at the beach house? I think the sea air would be invigorating." :"I'm getting the distinct impression, Lex, that you don't want me here." ::Lionel Luthor and Lex talk :"This thing's got extraterrestrial written all over it." :"Yeah, I bet there's little green guys running around the cornfield too, Pete." :"I'm serious, Clark. Have you ever seen anything like it?" :"If the aliens came to Earth, don't you think they'd find a place a little more exciting than Smallville?" ::Pete Ross and Clark Kent :"Hey, Pete. Look, man, I know you're freaked out. Don't you think I freak myself out sometimes?" ::Clark Kent :"Sure, Chloe. I saw a spaceship. I even met an alien." :"Really? Would you like to describe it?" :"Actually, he looks a lot like Clark." :"I thought aliens were little and green." :"I guess things aren't always what you think they are." ::Pete Ross and Chloe Sullivan :"I just needed to get out of the mansion. It's getting crowded." :"Doesn't it have like 75 rooms?" :"Yeah, well, my father takes up a lot of space." ::Lex Luthor and Clark Kent :"I'm a terrible liar so I've moved on to avoidance." :"You've come to the right place." ::Lana Lang and [Kent|Clark :(to Pete) "I couldn't let you die to protect my secret, and I can't let anyone else die either. No matter who they are." ::Clark Kent :"So you're telling me you never once looked in the girl's locker room?" :"Well, maybe once." :"That's my boy." ::Pete Ross and Clark Kent talk about Clark's x-ray vision :"I guess I'm just lucky she didn't take a nine-iron to a meter maid's car." :"You heard about that?" :"I was having a bad day." :"(laughing) Yeah. " ::Clark Kent and Lex Luthor Music * "Southbound Train" - Travis Tritt * "Ordinary" - Greg Jones * "Goodbye" - Stephanie Simon * "Leading With My Heart" - Alice Peacock Trivia Category:Episodes